Staying On Track

ECIC, CCAA Championships Set For This Weekend

May 22, 2014

Since the Strider Field athletic complex on Martin Road was first completed in 1990, it has hosted some of Western New York's biggest and most important games and track and field events.

Article Photos

Strider Field, located at the Martin Road Athletic Complex in Jamestown, will be the site for this weekend’s Erie County Interscholastic Conference Track & Field Championships. Below, Maple Grove sprinter Christina Walter is one of the headliners in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Championships at Dunkirk High School.Submitted photo (above)Photo by Tim Frank (below)

Strider Field, located at the Martin Road Athletic Complex in Jamestown, will be the site for this weekend’s Erie County Interscholastic Conference Track & Field Championships. Below, Maple Grove sprinter Christina Walter is one of the headliners in the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Championships at Dunkirk High School.Submitted photo (above)Photo by Tim Frank (below)

Randolph junior Mckenna Maycock is ranked No. 1 in Western New York in the 400 meters and the 400 hurdles.Photo by Tim Frank

Section 6 championships for softball, football, track and field as well as the Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Track Championships have all taken advantage of the facilities at Strider, but the site has never been used for the Erie County Interscholastic Conference Track & Field Championships.

That will change Friday morning, as hundreds of athletes from 28 Section 6 schools take to the track for the conference's season finale.

In every previous year sprinters, runners, jumpers, and throwers from Jamestown High School have not had the opportunity to take their home field with league bragging rights on the line.

Both the athletes, as well as the coaches and event organizers, are looking forward to using that home-field advantage this weekend, while also having a chance to show schools from Cattaraugus and Erie counties the exceptional facilities and competitive atmosphere that Jamestown has to offer.

The championships will begin at 1 p.m., Friday with finals for the boys pentathalon, girls pentathalon, girls 3,000 meters, and boys 3,200. All of the other events on Friday are scheduled as trials and semifinals, but some trials may be eliminated if few entries are received.

The majority of the ECIC finals will be held on Saturday. Competition begins at 11 a.m., and the awards ceremony is expected to be held at 3 p.m.

"We have hosted regional championships, so this isn't new to us. We're anticipating having a great two days of track and field at Strider," said David Reinhardt, director of Athletics/Health & Wellness for Chautauqua Striders and assistant Jamestown track and field coach, who will be running the timing systems used during this weekend's events.

"We are doing all of the timing, entries, and meet management of the race. This is something that we do for all of the local races," Reinhardt said. "It will be nice for our kids to finally have a home track advantage this year. We are just really looking forward to doing what we do here at Strider Field, which is put on a track meet."

Reinhardt is one of a host of people, including Red Raiders coaches Steve Sipior, Nancy Feenstra and Ron Graham, who have worked tirelessly to make sure that Jamestown makes a lasting impression after winning its first bid to host for the ECIC.

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"No doubt it takes a lot of people that know what they are doing better than me to pull this off," said JHS athletic director Ben Drake. "We've been a venue for basketball, football, and softball as a neutral site, and have hosted a lot of sectional championship games. But the (ECIC track and field) is a totally different animal because of everything that goes into making this work, and I couldn't do it without the coaches and Chautauqua Striders.''

Concessions as well as ECIC Track & Field Championship T-shirts will be available throughout Friday and Saturday, as well as reserved seating sections for team coaches.

The Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association Track & Field Championships will begin at 3 p.m., Friday at Dunkirk High School. The two-day event will resume on Saturday at 10 a.m. for the semifinals and finals as well as the award presentation.

There will be several area runners to watch, including some of the most dominant athletes in Western New York.

Heading into the CCAA Championships, Maple Grove's Christina Walter will look to cap off her terrific senior season in the 100 and 200 meters. Walter currently leads all of Section 6 in the 100 with a time of 12.07. Also looking to make a statement for the girls will be Randolph's McKenna Maycock, who currently leads the section in the 400 with a time of 58.57 as well as the 400 hurdles with 1:03.99.

Tareek Hannold and Josh Fisher of Falconer will lead the way for the Golden Falcons with Hannold looking to finish off his superb season in the 100 and 200 dashes. Meanwhile, Fisher has come into his own as a junior, competing in the 110 high hurdles as well as the triple jump. Fisher could face some stiff competition in the hurdles from Southwestern's Jordan Powers, who has been as consistent as anyone for the Trojans this year. Both Hannold and Fisher were previously ranked first in the section in their respective events, with Hannold formerly holding first place in the 200 and Fisher in the 110 hurdles.

Saturday's finals will include some strong distance races, highlighted by Corey Wefing of undefeated Maple Grove and Zach Jackson, who battled it out in the 800, 1,600, and 3,200 runs during their final dual meet of the season on Tuesday. Wefing claimed all three races, but Jackson was able to push the Red Dragons senior and placed second in all three events.

Others to watch are Southwestern's Ryan Hetrick and Falconer's Austin Ormond, who finished up their season in a close battle on Tuesday. Hetrick prevailed in the 1,600 and 3,200 while Ormond took home the 800.